Category: Northern Ireland

One of the finest Norman castles in Northern Ireland, with views to sea and Mourne Mountains. It was founded in 1177 by John de Courcy, following his invasion of Ulster. This medieval coastal castle, with circular keep and massive walls, stands on the top of a rocky hill commanding fine views south over Dundrum Bay […]

Cowd Castle is a castle situated in Ardglass, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the other side of the road from Margaret’s Castle, at the entrance to Ardglass Golf Club. It is a small two-storey tower which may date from the late 15th century or early 16th century. The doorway is in the west […]

A range of fortified warehouses at the harbour entrance, dating from the 12th century and known as the Newark (the New Works) was acquired by Lord Charles Fitzgerald in 1790. He converted the central section into Ardglass Castle, which he sold to William Ogilvie in 1806. The property subsequently passed to his-son-in law Charles Beauclerc, […]

Moyry Castle lies in the countryside south west of the village of Jonesborough, in County Armagh, in Northern Ireland. Moyry Castle was built in 1601 by Lord Mountjoy during his northern campaign on a natural rocky hillock to secure the ancient natural route into Ulster through the strategic Moyry Pass (also known as Gap of […]

Gosford Castle was the first major project using Norman architecture. Inside the narrow, unlit corridors, cramped stairwells, extremely thick walls, constructed with granite and the mouldings around the window arches, effectively recreate the gloomy outlay of a Norman castle. The central element of Gosford castle is the keep, surrounded by a number of smaller blocks […]

Kinbane Castle (also known as Kenbane, meaning “white headland”) is a little-known jewel in the North Coast of County Antrim. A secluded ruin at the bottom of a steep cliff face, the castle commands excellent views of the surrounding coastline with Fair Head to the East and Rathlin Island to the North. Travelling further west […]

Carrickfergus Castle is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the shore of Belfast Lough. Besieged in turn by the Scots, Irish, English and French, the castle played an important military role until 1928 and remains one of the best preserved medieval structures in the whole […]

The familiar landmark of Belfast Castle, overlooks the city from a prominent site 400 feet above sea level on the slopes of Cave Hill. This magnificent sandstone building, recently restored by Belfast City Council’s Parks Department, has close associations with the city’s history. The first ‘Belfast Castle’ was built by the Normans in the late […]

The original Castle of Antrim is generally supposed, according to Dr. Petrie, to have been erected in or about the year 1662, by Sir John Clotworthy, Lord Massarene, who died in 1665, and whose only daughter and heiresss, Mary, by her marriage with Sir John Skeffington, the fifth baronet of that name, carried the estate […]